eordafandomcom-20200215-history
Arcas
Wytor Era Arcas's founding myth dates the cities foundation at a little over six millennial ago. The Wytor tribe was said to have founded it under the guidance of Archon, first lord of the city. He appears in many myths as the good ruler of the land beloved by all. He lead his tribe through many battles before finally dying on the fields of what would soon be Arcas. The legend states that on his death bed, he requested that they tribe settle on the plain where he fought his last battle and to bury him beneath a tree on a nearby hill so that he could watch the city grow until “it eclipsed even the stars themselves.” The Wytor founded the city as he instructed and named it Arcas (or Archaus as it was originally called) in his honor and the hill was named Ravenhill after Archon's personal symbol that was eventually adapted into the city's coat of arms. The Wytor era, as the it is now called. Was the era where the members of the Wytor tribe controlled most of the city both politically and militarily. Rather then a king, most early rulers were elected by an assembly of Wytors that would meet on the death of the old ruler. Residents who were not members of the tribe were not allowed to participate and often not allowed to attend either. Despite seeming closed off, the city was fairly welcoming to newcomers with many traditions and beliefs adopted from dozens of different faiths from throughout the land that would become Arcas. The number of deities worshiped also dramatically expanded from about twenty-five to fifty. Arcas proved to be a very unpredictable nation, moving from isolationist to expansionist to economic in the span of a few rulers. For the first thousand years of the nation this pattern continued until Ardic Wytor I (Wytors of this time took on the name Wytor when they ascended to leadership) led a permanent change into an economic hegemony. The Arcas hegemony lasted for nine hundred years despite constant threats to its power from other large nations. The war of eight cities (as it was called back then) was a war between Arcas and Ernas (a colony of Arcas that grew into a city) and the six cities of the Darly pact led by Linton. The war lasted several years but ended when the Pry Canal was completed and the Arcas ships that had been stuck in the Talous lake were freed to enter the ocean. Whereas the ground battle were largely in their favor the Arcas Navy was able to make enough of a difference to tilt the balance in favor of the Arcas faction. This along with several other wars in the five hundred year period would solidify the dominance of Arcas. The end of the Wytor era saw Arcas grow as a nation slightly smaller then modern Arcas. On 2414 of the Wytor Era a group of Wytor nobles met and decided to elect a king to act as hereditary ruler and centralize some power. Thus Waldon Credef was proclaimed king and crowned Waldon Credef I, beginning the Credef era. Cerdef Era Arcas was for much of of the Credef era a quiet and peaceful kingdom. The Galric invasions that racked the last hundred years of the era however ended the peace. The invasion lead to a great reduction of land and a great deal of infighting among the nobility. The king and nobles tried a variety of methods to stop the conflict including appeasement, which led to brief pauses in the war as the Galrics regrouped and more arrived seeking land. As the city of Arcas was becoming flooded with refugees and food became scarce the nobility decided on one last measure to protect themselves, they ordered the building of a massive wall around the city, signaling to all that the king had given up on anything other than holding the capital Arcas was effectively pushed back to only holding their capital and some surrounding land, everything else was either under Galric control or Arcasan nobility that felt abandoned by the king. These Arcasan petty kings fought both various Galric leaders and themselves. King Alar Credef II would be the last of his house to sit on the throne. Despite the protection of the wall the military was still often sent out to protect the few farms and nobles that retained loyalty to the king. These veterans would prove to be the undoing of the house of Credef. A group of of army officers led by Elic Yndsen deposed of the king. Yndsen Era Elic was declared Elic Yndsen I by the officers who had deposed the king. Thus 850 CE became 1 YE. Elic and his officers decided to skip past the nobility, many of whom had lost land decades ago and went directly to the people with their plans. Elic declared himself Krigster (Warlord) on the Arcas commons and called for the reclamation of their stolen land. The common people of Arcas were quick to follow Elic for his promises of land and pay, both of which were scarce in the crammed and overcrowded city. Elic ordered the energetic audience to demolish the walls of the city promising that the stones would be used for their new homes. This served as a political message to the various Galric and Arcasan petty kings, the new Arcas Krigdom, would not run and hide like the kingdom before it. Before 750 CE, most of the Arcasan pantheon was peaceful, with little militaristic tradition, barring the protector god Galdum, who served as a protector to all men. Elic Yndsen, in anticipation of the conquests, added two previously minor gods to the existing Significant 50 Gods, the stoic warrior Sifarus, god of victory and the bloodthirsty maiden Myphion, goddess of battle. Thus giving rise to the Significant 52 Gods that are worshiped to this day and replaced the Week of the Sun with the Week of Sifarus, and the Week of the Moons with the Week of Myphion in the Arcasan calendar. The two gods, with their father Galdum, were declared the War Triad, a popular group of gods to this day especially among soldiers. Many nationalists of the late Yndsen era portrayed the “Reclamation War” as a struggle of Elic and the former Arcasan petty kings against the evil Galric horde led by “Great King” Cargel. The real history however is much more complex. Many of the Galric petty kings were fairly Arcasized by that point and several of them served Elic alongside Arcasan petty kings. Elic fought many opponents including several Arcasan petty kings with Cargel being merely the leader of the last alliance against Elic, and Cargel's alliance included several Arcasan petty kings. Elic's son Elic Yndsen II succeeded his father to the throne and began the first of a series of expansionist wars that led to the rise of the Empire of Arcas. The Empire conquered much of Aredia Major and Aredia Minor. The empire reached its height in 662 YE, even making inroads into Dorjania. However an overextend empire combined with a string of weak Krigsters meant that a decline was inevitable, and a particularly swift one followed. Several groups of nomads begin pouring into Arcasan Dorjania looking for land in exchange for military service. The Arcasans agreed, but soon needed to conquer more and more land to meet the amount that they needed, eventually the reached the extension peak. The extension peak is a term used to describe the point where an empire can no longer expand and protect the land that it owns, a term created to describe this specific point. The Arcasans could no longer give the nomads land, nor could they pay them the alternative 5000 Ysts for service. The Arcasans attempted to broker a deal with the nomads, who refused and began a revolt. The nomads, armed with Arcasan training began taking land in Dorjania before turning their eyes to Aredia Major. The invasion of the nomads coincided with a serious of major revolts in Aredia Major, forcing the empire to pull its army out of much of Western Aredia Major, leaving the other two factions to fight it out. Eventually the various Aredian lords emerged triumphant and soon began marching on the Empire of Arcas. Arcas did not have enough troops to fend off the invasion and were slowly pushed back. The situation deteriorated further as lords in Aredia Minor, comfortable with their largely peaceful lives simply declared independence from Arcas, the over extended empire could do nothing to stop them. By 1068 YE the empire was in dire straits. Arcas was pushed backed to its home territory and was rapidly losing that as well. The current Krigster Fanric Yndsen III had made a few gains, but was a mediocre ruler in a time when only a great one would do, and he was the one most aware of this. Fanric Yndsen III on his deathbed made a decision that probably changed the course of history. Childless Fanric on 15 Loymon 1068 YE declared his best general, Wilem Armis, as the new Krigster, ending over a thousand years of the Yndsen rule. Armis Era Krigster Wilem Armis I was the great ruler that the nation needed, an experienced general, Armis was able to marshal what was left of the Arcas army and won several decisive battle, forcing a peace. By 10 AE, Arcas had fallen hard, but it was able to stand up, strong with its homeland intact. Wilem began a series of reforms to help Arcas recover, his son Fanric Armis I would continue hos father's policies. The reforms established a small standing army that would be augmented by levies raised from the serfs of the nobility. Fanric, mindful of the power of lower farming class of small independent farmers (they (or rather their children) made up a majority of the standing army) included several laws to protect their land and positions. Fanric also supported the urban craftsmen and laborers and tentatively supported their desire to form guilds to manage their own business. Republic Era To be Written